Action and Reaction
by BettyBest2
Summary: The League of Villains make a move that leaves Izuku fighting with everything he has to turn things back around.


Everything can be boiled down to action and reaction.

There's a live wire within him that pulses through his veins, runs like liquid flames under his skin, and links to his heart like it was there from the start. Izuku doesn't even have to think about it. His emotions do all the work. Iida racing beside him over rubble and craters, through the ash of devastation falls back a yard, then ten, until Izuku has all but outpaced him in a blur of neon green sparks. All the sounds around him begin to fade, washed away like a painting left out in the rain. His heartbeat rises up to replace it, thunderous and rapid like the beats of a hummingbird's wings.

The city is deserted. Has been since Shigaraki and Kurogiri led an army of Nomu to its doorstop, overwhelmed, and won. No hero was prepared. No counterattacks made a dent. Shigaraki made his move first. Their pawns fell. _Their King stolen._ Action and reaction.

 _"Izuku... They have All Might."_

A Nomu emerges from the wreckage of a skyscraper. It's eyes are a beady, hollow black and limbs of lean, jagged points, all eight of them—one of which is a hair's width from puncturing his eye. Izuku falls back, hands scraping along jutting rocks and twisted metal. His lower half follows like a wave and the tip of his foot smashes into the jaw of the creature. It's barely a thought, the fluid move that lands him back on his feet, hunched forward in readiness.

Wind cuts past him as the Nomi strikes again as if uninterrupted before, each limb moving with precision and lethal intent. Izuku's iridescent green eyes watches each point travel as if slogging through molasses. His heart. _Twist_. His head. _Duck_. His torso. _Leap_. Until he flows into a well worn dance of motion and power that leads into a heavenwards cry, a spin and the crack of his heel against the skull of the Nomu. The thing rockets towards the skyscraper from which it emerged, sending a plume of smoke billowing towards the sky.

The rubble doesn't move. Green sparks scatter across the ground in Izuku's wake.

 _I should have been there. I should've known._ His face is twisted in anguish yet is as fierce as a hellish storm. A letter had arrived from _Hisashi Midoriya_ inviting he and his mom to join him abroad for a mini vacation. It was a chance for the family to reconnect—for Izuku to form a bond with his father. It was summer. A small break from hero training couldn't hurt, right?

The location they arrived to was a run down old mall on the edge of a well known city. Of course they figured they'd confused the address. A day of fumbling around in search led his mom to calling around for answers. Hisashi hadn't been the one behind the letter. Shigaraki had made his move. Musutafu was in ruins.

 _All Might was gone._

His bones don't ache despite fighting without his hero costume. In fact he'd argue that they hum like currents on the wind. He doesn't know whether it's from adrenaline or something else, and the thoughts are easily swept away by the bulky yet nimble Nomu that swarm him in the blink of an eye. A freight train disguised as a fist slams into his face before he has a chance to react. Something snaps, blood splatters, and stars twinkle into his vision. There's mindless squawks that swell above the thumping beat in his ears. He has to take action. He can't let them win.

 _"That... that can't be true. They can't—"_

 _"They've got him, Izuku." Aizawa interrupts and Izuku swears something withers away inside him at the somber—_ hopeless _—_ _gloom in his teacher's eyes. "They plan to kill him at dawn."_

Magma bubbles under his skin allowing his kicks to move mountains. A whirlwind kick knocks them back and sends some flying, but it's a brief respite before they're covering once more. No matter how swift he is at dodging, or efficient he is with his _Shoot Style_ , blows rain down relentlessly. Bones begin to creak, lacerations litter his skin, copper tinges the heavy air, and his head gains a dizzying ring. He becomes submerged under the blank eyes of artificial humans.

 _They're trying to keep everyone away._

His leg slices through a group of Nomu. Several go down. A dozen take their place.

 _They're trying to keep_ me _away._

Another slash and his leg snaps under the knee. He doesn't feel it. Nor does he feel when beefy fingers encircle his skull then slam his body into the ground causing the arcs of green light to fizzle out. Izuku only feels one thing. It surges from his chest, something raw, untapped, and _unyielding_. He can't see through the swelling of one eye and blood leaks into the other, however the power that ignites there is unmistakable. His hands claw the ground under him, forcing his battered body upwards. "I won't... let you."

A green vibrance pushes back the shadows. His fingers lock like steel around the Nomu's leathery wrist dragging it back from his face and he all but screams, _"I WON'T LET YOU!"_

Izuku yanks his fist back then throws it into an upwards curve with a howl of determination. **_"SMASH!"_**

The area erupts in a torrent of wind and shockwaves. The army of Nomu disperse like scattered debris, windows shatter, and clouds swirl above. Izuku stands like a rickety foundation, arm extended, and chest heaving. Blood and sweat stick to his skin. Somewhere in the distance Iida and Uraraka call his name.

It's a like a flipped switch. He has to keep moving. The swelling clouds do nothing to deter the time. Dawn is upon them.

His leg only slows him down a notch, the pain hardly anything to what he's experienced in the past. He pushes himself forward, beyond the loss, beyond his guilt, all the way to the stairs.

The cracked steps that once led to UA.

And at the very top where the once pristine school lies in shambles the League of Villains stand. Shigaraki front and center, hand poised just over All Might's head—a Queen ready to remove the King from play. All Might looks more fragile than Izuku's ever seen with crimson staining his blond hair and black and purple bruises smearing his skin like spilled paint. The flames that once lifted his form have been smothered to nothing more than dying embers. He looks ready to give out and Izuku's heart rends over and over until it's an unrecognizable mess.

And then All Might's weary blue gaze focuses on him. A smile creeps across his face strong and unflinching. "Y-Young Midoriya..."

Tears spill down Izuku's cheeks hot and fast just as the first rays of sunlight bleed across the sky.

* * *

 **This is my first successful attempt at writing for the My Hero Academia fandom. I hope you all like it! I feel like there could be a whole story told around this one scene. Maybe one day I'll be able to write it.**


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